Andy Knott works in political theory, with a specific interest in political subjects, especially individualism and the people of populism, as well as debates across contemporary democratic theory.

Current research is focused on populism, with an interest in drawing on theoretical, historical and contemporary accounts of this complex political phenomenon. Recent projects have involved: the thorny question of defining populism; analysing populism's beginnings and temporality; left-wing populisms; the theories of populism; Brexit, populism and conservatism; and, populism and political subjects.

Andy is currently working on the notions of left and right, in order to re-think these categories, and reject the notion of the centre. This is part of a broader research project seeking to enrich understandings of the interactions between politics and space. This currently involves two different entry-points. First, the spatial categories of politics (left/right, up/down, in/out, high/low, etc) and, second, the space of politics -- which is sharply differentiated from the politics of space, which political geographers investigate.

Research interests also include Laclau, Mouffe, Rosanvallon, discourse theory, ideology, radical democracy, hegemony, and their roots in the likes of Machiavelli and Gramsci.

I'm interested in projects grappling with populism considered broadly, including contemporary, empirical, theoretical and historical accounts. Alongside tackling the notion of the people, my interest in political subjects include the individual, the multitude, the ochlos, and so on.

My research also investigates thinking about politics, space, and time, and am keen to take on projects that seek to re-/think these. Current work involves re-thinking left, right and centre, but this interest is in spatial categories more broadly and their interaction, but also directing attention towards the space of politics.